Commonwealth Bank’s venture-scaling arm, , has announced a $250,000 investment in , after the full-suite workflows and spend management platform won this year’s Xccelerate program.
Paytron was founded by Jaco Veldsman and Francois Henrion to transform business spend, with integrated workflows to control every transaction. It uses workflows to simplify the way accountants, mid-market companies and enterprises manage transactions like accounts payable, international transfers, and payroll. Features include automated invoice capture, batch payments, and corporate cards with built-in expense management, all through a single platform.
Paytron’s co-founder, Jaco Veldsman, said: “Fintechs, payments companies and banks working together is key to solving workflow problems for businesses of all sizes. If we don’t work together, we cannot solve the problem completely. It’s as simple as that.”
“A pathway to partnership with CBA is incredibly exciting – and means we can explore ways to bring best-of-breed workflows together with Australia’s leading bank.”
“The opportunity x15 provides for accelerated engagement between a venture like Paytron and a company of CBA’s scale and brand is unique, even without the investment.”
Now in its third year, x15ventures’ Xccelerate is a high touch, high-impact program that provides founders access to mentors and experts, helping them accelerate the growth of their business and understand the pathway to corporate partnership. This year’s program took place over three weeks in September and focused on startups shaping the future of Australian payments, attracting applications from more than 50 experienced founders and entrepreneurs.
Toby Norton-Smith, Managing Director, x15ventures, said: “x15 has a unique model where we don’t hide from the hard work involved in bringing together the corporate and venture worlds, because we know there are huge opportunities for both sides when we get things right.”
“Paytron has the vision, ambition and maturity to reap the benefits of a future strategic partnership with the bank.”
To be declared the winner of Xccelerate22, Paytron impressed a judging panel including x15’s Portfolio Director, Laura Faulconer and Victoria Ledda, Executive General Manager, CIO of Institutional Banking & Markets at CBA, plus Mina Radhakrishnan, co-founder of :Different.
Victoria Ledda, said: “Continuing to simplify and digitise our processes, as well as how our products are integrated in the everyday business decisions of our clients, is a key focus for us – we look forward to exploring pathways to partnership between Paytron and CBA.”
What did the program involve?
After applications closed on 1 September, 14 teams were invited to the Xccelerate Community Day event on Tuesday, 13 September. From there, five teams were selected to continue in the program, joining CBA and x15 experts for the Pathway to Partnership Day, where teams explored what strategic partnership with a corporate institution looks like and how to position their venture for success. A final four were then invited to pitch to an audience including leading Australian VCs and an investment committee.
While Paytron secured the investment on the night, CBA executives also outlined potential business development opportunities for the other three finalists, who were:
- Cape: Spend management and finance automation platform designed to help businesses cut wasteful spending
- Persollo: Instant checkout and lead generation platform
- YouPay: eCommerce payment gateway that separates the recipient from the payer, securely and privately
Previous Xccelerate alumni include givvable (winner in 2020), Own³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ (winner of the second Xccelerate cohort in 2020) and Splashup (winner in 2021).
About x15ventures
x15ventures is Commonwealth Bank’s venture scaler, founded in 2020 to build the next generation of solutions for the bank’s 15 million customers and beyond, and unlock new value from CBA’s assets through partnership with the tech and innovation community.
x15ventures partners with seasoned entrepreneurs, providing them support and guidance, funding from CBA’s $1 billion annual technology investment envelope, and a technology stack and support model that combines leading-edge cloud technology with bank grade security and integrations to CBA distribution networks, ensuring ventures can scale quickly and sustainably.
